The present invention relates to the field of vehicle devices, and, more particularly, to a tracking and alerting system for a vehicle.
Motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, trucks, busses, fleet vehicles, etc. are widely used and knowing the locations of such vehicles is often desired. For example, should a vehicle be stolen, it would be beneficial to know the vehicle""s location so that authorities could be promptly and accurately directed to retrieve the vehicle. Indeed, the tracking system could plot the getaway path of the thief.
For a company with hired drivers, it may be desirable to know the driver""s whereabouts during the course of the day. Similarly, a rental car agency or other fleet operator, for example, may wish to know the whereabouts of its fleet of vehicles.
It may also be desirable to track the location of a vehicle as it is used throughout the course of a normal day. For parents of younger or older drivers, for example, knowledge of the vehicle""s location may provide some assurance that the driver is at designated locations and following a prescribed route.
A number of patents disclose various systems and approaches to tracking vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844 discloses a tracking system including a control center and a mobile unit installed in the vehicle. The mobile unit may send security warnings to the command center via a wireless transceiver. Position information for the vehicle is determined using a GPS receiver at the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,043 discloses a similar system which may send one or more preprogrammed telephone messages to a user when away from the vehicle. The user may remotely access location information or cause certain commands to be carried out by entering a personal identification number (PIN).
The widespread availability and use of the Internet has prompted a number of vehicle tracking systems to also make use of the Internet. For example, TelEvoke, Inc. proposed such a system in combination with Clifford Electronics. The system was to provide notification, control and tracking services via the telephone or the Internet. Users could be notified via phone, e-mail, or pager of events such as a car alarm being triggered. Users could control the vehicle remote devices via phone, web, or PDA such as unlocking car doors. Additionally, users could track TelEvoke-enabled vehicles on the Internet or via the telephone. An Internet map could be viewed by the user showing the actual and prior vehicle locations. TelEvoke offered its services via a centralized fully automated Network Operations Center. To reduce the communications costs, it was proposed to use the control channel of the cellular telephone network.
Many conventional vehicle tracking units include many input and output connections. Accordingly, such units may be difficult to install in a vehicle. This is especially so since the space available to access and connect to vehicle wires is likely to be restricted. Accordingly, errors in the initial installation may occur. Accurate diagnosis of any such errors may be time consuming and add further to the installation costs. Maintenance of an installed system may also be complicated if each connection must be individually checked and rechecked.
In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle tracking unit which bypasses sending security signals while performing particular vehicle functions.
This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordance with the present invention are provided by a vehicle tracking unit for a vehicle including at least one security device. The vehicle tracking unit may include a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device for communicating with a monitoring station, a security device detection circuit for the at least one security device, and a controller connected to the wireless communications device, the security device detection circuit and the vehicle position determining device for sending security signals to the monitoring station;
Furthermore, the controller may also perform at least one predetermined vehicle function and while bypassing the security device detection circuit based upon receiving a corresponding command signal via the wireless communications device. Accordingly, if performing the at least one vehicle function would otherwise activate the at least one security device, the vehicle tracking unit may advantageously avoid sending unwanted signals to the user, which may result in a significant savings in wireless communications costs.
More particularly, the wireless communication device may receive the corresponding command signal from a remote transmitter carried by a user and/or from the monitoring station. Also, the controller may be switchable between armed and disarmed modes, and the controller may perform the at least one predetermined vehicle function based upon receiving the corresponding command signal via the wireless communications device while in the armed mode. The at least one corresponding command signal may include at least one of a car find command signal and a remote start command signal. Further, the controller may cooperate with the wireless communications device to send alert signals to the monitoring station based upon the security device detection circuit.
The controller may also cease bypassing the security device detection circuit based upon a predetermined input. By way of example, the vehicle may further include an ignition switch, and the predetermined input may include switching the ignition switch between on and off positions. Also, the predetermined input may include a deactivation of the at least one security device. In addition, the controller may cease bypassing the security device detection circuit after a predetermined period.
Furthermore, the controller may also cooperate with the vehicle position determining device and the wireless communications device to send vehicle position information to the monitoring station. By way of example, the vehicle position determining device may be a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, and the wireless communications device may be a cellular telephone communications device which may communicate over a cellular control channel.
A vehicle control method aspect of the invention is for a vehicle of a type including at least one security device and a vehicle tracking unit, such as the one described briefly above. The method may include selectively sending security signals from the vehicle tracking unit to the monitoring station, and receiving a command signal via the vehicle tracking unit corresponding to at least one vehicle function. Furthermore, the at least one vehicle function may be performed based upon the corresponding command signal, and the method may also include bypassing sending the security signals while performing the at least one vehicle function.